Aims: The aim of this study was to develop a gross motor performance clinical assessment tool, the Concussion Challenge Assessment (CCA), for paediatric concussion populations.
Methods: An expert panel evaluated tasks from the Acquired Brain Injury Challenge Assessment to determine relevant tasks for a paediatric concussion population. These tasks were administered to a convenience sample of 854 healthy youth. An analysis of the response options for each task, considering task difficulty, was performed. The test-retest reliability of each task was considered to finalise the tool.
Results: The Acquired Brain Injury Challenge Assessment was reduced to six tasks (three coordination, two speed and agility, and one strength) to create the CCA. Population-specific 4-point response options were generated, which, upon examination of task difficulty, were revised as 5-point response sets to better capture performance differences. The test-retest reliability results led to acceptance of all six: three performance tasks and three exertion tasks.
Conclusion: This development of the CCA is an important step in creating a gross motor performance assessment tool that can assist in the determination of when youth are able to safely return to activity following a concussion.
Keywords: concussion; development; gross motor performance; paediatric; return to activity; youth.
© 2022 Tanel, Gupta, Wilson, Murphy, Wright and Reed.